"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes."...Marcel Proust
We just spent an evening and early morning in this amazing city. It is possibly the only city in the world that straddles two continents, Europe and Asia, and has been a major cultural crossroads for hundreds of years. Our hotel, Sultan House, was right in the center of the Old Town, just a couple of blocks from the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sofia and many other monuments.
We had a great 4 hours walking around the old town. We didn't go into any buildings, as they were all closed at this hour, but we walked around tha Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia. When we were just entering the Blue Mosque courtyard, a Turkish man approached us to help us out by giving us directions. He then said we just had to see the market below the mosque, as the items here were much cheaper than the more touristy Grand Bazaar. Well guess what? His brother just happens to have a carpet shop in the market. What a suprise! But we humored him and followed him to the store. His name was Genghis, as in Genghis Khan. Lucky for us, we could tell him we had just arrived an hour ago and weren't exactly shopping. He made us promise to come back to see his carpets and the pottery shop next door. Okay, maybe.
We continued our walk up to the Topkapi Palace, the great palace of the sultans, and then through some wonderful small streets with shops and restaurants. Being an old town, there are many small, twisting streets that go all over. We entered a big park right below the palace that is a favorite place for locals to stroll through. Away from the loud, smelly streets, this park is a true oasis in Istanbul. It goes all the way down to where the Golden Horn splits off from the Bosphorus. You can see the hussle and bussle of all the ferry boats going up and down. Here, that wonderful sea and fish smell mixes with diesel fumes and you know you are on an important waterway.
There is a great pedestrian path that goes along the Golden Horn and lots of fishermen are trying their luck there. They, along with families, young lovers and many tourists walk along this stretch, gazing across the Golden Horn. At one point, we were following a shoe shine man. Amy noticed that he dropped one of his brushes and when she told him, he was so excitedly happy. "Oh, mother, how can I thank you, you are so very kind". Then he pretty much insisted that he give her a shoe shine, which we thought would be a gift for helping him out. She really didn't want one, but went along with him. Then, the guy's son shows up and wants to,shine my Keen sandals. Well you just don't shine Keen sandals, but I went along with it, too. "Oh mother, oh father, you are so kind, thank you very much for helping us". Amy said we should give him a tip, but that was unnecessary as the shines cost us 19 Turkish lira each (about $6!!!). We smiled and gave it to him of course chalking it up to lesson #1 this trip: always ask the price even when you think it's free.
A bit further is the Galata Bridge with all sorts of fish restaurants, right on the water. We stopped at one and each had grilled fish, bream and bass. That, along with a big beer and white wine was only 80 Turkish lira, about $25. From our restaurant seats, we could watch the ferry boats constantly coming in and out on one side and on the other a huge mosque, all lit up in yellow light. As we were eating, we heard the call to prayer, one of five that occur daily.
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